The Red Green Wiki:Standards

This page describes the standards currently accepted for page formatting and composition by the Red Green Wiki community. Please try to follow these standards when creating and editing pages.

General
A few guidelines that it is wise to follow when creating and editing wiki pages:

Edits belong to the Wiki
Once you submit a new page, an article edit, or a correction/addition to an article, the edit no longer belongs to you. It is now the collective property of the wiki. If a user reverts the change, or nominates the article into discussion, it is done in response to the content of the edit, not the user who submitted it. Please abandon all claims to your submission, as each wiki editor has the right to determine if that edit is helpful to the wiki.

Always use the Summary box
When editing pages, always fill in the "Summary" box above the Save/Preview buttons before saving, and make sure that you fill it in with something useful describing the edit you made and, if it's not obvious, why. For example, "fixed spelling error" or "added fun fact" or "reverted from vandal 127.0.0.1" are all acceptable. Saying "made some changes" or just filling in the name of the page is not helpful, because it's information that we already have. Making your Summaries accurate and useful makes it vastly easier for the rest of us to keep track of Recent Changes and keeps everybody happy.

Note that in "my preferences" the user can set the wiki to warn them when an edit is being submitted without an edit summary. This option is disabled by default: enabling it is suggested.

Use the Minor Edit button appropriately
As a corollary to the above, if you're making a minor edit (e.g. fixing a spelling error, tweaking formatting, or reverting a vandalized page to its original state), check the "This is a minor edit" button below the Summary box before saving the page. On the other hand, if you're making an addition, deletion, or other edit that changes the substance of a page (even if it's just a few words), do not mark the edit as minor. Again, this will make things easier for the rest of us.

Don't link to the current page
In other words, a page should not link to itself. Most pages that do so are actually just stubs with a link to edit the current page. This variety of self-link is OK but feel free to expand upon these articles and remove the stub tag.

Link once
A given article should generally only contain one link to any other page. If a page links to Harold Green in one place, then that should be the only link to Harold on that page. Typically this link should be the first instance of the term in the article. For example, characters in an episode are linked in the cast list, and nowhere else. Long tables and lists, however, can contain a link at every instance.

Special Characters
When you must include characters that are not available in 7-bit ASCII encoding (generally, anything you can't type on your keyboard without using special tricks), please use character references, either numeric (&amp;#233; = &eacute;) or entity (&amp;eacute; = &eacute;) style. Do not use whatever feature of your operating system allows you to insert special characters directly, as this introduces complicated encoding concerns to both the server and the browser. This includes features like Microsoft Word's "AutoCorrect", which often automatically creates such things as arrows, ellipses, em dashes, and left/right quotation marks as you type.

Try to avoid special characters when possible, as some systems and browsers struggle with them. In particular, be sure to use the generic ' and " characters for all single and double quotation marks and apostrophes except in special cases. The exception, however, is the em dash (&amp;mdash; = &mdash;), which is much preferable to a single or double hyphen (- or --) when it's used to mark out an independent clause within a sentence or to indicate interruption of a thought.

Don't use conversational style
This is an information site. It should read like Wikipedia, not like your diary.


 * Don't use "smileys" or "emoticons".
 * Check your spelling and grammar. Don't use Internet slang (ex. "How r u?" or "c u 2nite"). If you're not 100% sure about the way a word is spelled, type it into Google or Dictionary.com. If you know that you're not the strongest speller, compose your edits in a word processor like Microsoft Word that has spell-checking built in. Also see this list of common misspellings.
 * An exception to this rule is when such misspellings or slang appear directly in an episode, in which case they should be preserved in the transcript. If the misspelling or wrong word is conspicuous, mark the word with the Latin "sic" - traditionally, it is written [sic] visibly in the text after the incorrect word, but in transcripts it's usually preferred to make the "sic" invisible to the reader by typing "&lt;!-- sic -->".
 * Fun Facts and trivia should be written as statements, not questions. If you're not sure about a fun fact, you can use language like "may" or "could be" to indicate ambiguity; however, unsure and unsubstantiated fun facts are usually quickly deleted. Avoid using weasel words.
 * Don't "reply" to content others have posted. If you think a particular point warrants discussion, post on the article's talk page. If you're 100% sure that something should be changed and don't think a discussion is necessary, just change it. Dialogue goes only on articles' talk pages or the forum.
 * If something on a page contains a factual error, then edit it or remove it. Do not add a comment below saying "this is wrong."
 * Don't leave notes or instructions to future editors like "Add more information here if you find it". Again, use the article's talk page if you want to communicate with other editors. In some cases, HTML comments can be added to indicate specific issues in specific places, but this should be used sparingly and only to clarify community consensus.
 * Never abbreviate the names of characters, episodes, or things on the site (e.g. W.R. or "Net Deal"). Wherever possible, use the full name of a character the first time they are mentioned. After the first mention, you may refer to "Winston Rothschild" as "Winston" or "Red Green" as "Red" and so forth.
 * An exception to this rule is the bolded character attributions in transcripts, which should always contain the full name of the character speaking.
 * Avoid the first person ("I" or "We"; e.g. "We hear sound effects from off-screen") and the second person ("You"; ex. "Harold tells you how to get a date." Use the third person (e.g. "Sound effects play from off-screen") instead.

Quoting
Needless to say, when quoting an individual, be accurate. If including a quote would make for an awkward sentence structure, you may change minor words to match the context and set them off with single square brackets.

Maintain a Neutral Point of View (NPOV)
Our knowledge base documents the Red Green Show body of work, not our personal opinion. Keep articles clean of speculation or any type of judgment or opinion. An example of a point of view (POV) edit is "Harold does a great job of imitating Red in The Driver's Test," which should be phrased as "Harold imitates Red in The Driver's Test" to make it NPOV.

Also, please keep in mind that, while this knowledge base is by definition a fan site, it is not a place for forum-style discussions, suggestions or feedback for the show's producers, or fan fiction and other fan contributions. Fan contributions to the show itself should be documented as part of the episode or production they are mentioned in, but this wiki is not the place to show off your own Red Green-inspired projects. Similarly, this wiki is not affiliated with S&S Productions or The Red Green Show in any way.

Don't sign your edits
All contributions are appreciated, but if every user left their mark on every contribution they made, the wiki would be nothing but signatures. If you've made an edit that you're particularly proud of (such as a transcript or screenshot), the correct place to take credit is on your own user page. If you do not have a user account, we respect your anonymity, but your edits will remain anonymous, too.

Do sign your Talk posts
If you make a post on a discussion page, please sign it. If you have a user account, this is as easy as typing ~ at the end of your post. If you don't have a user account, just sign it with your name or nickname (or use ~ : the wiki will generate a signature based on your IP address) so everybody can tell who's who when reading long conversations. Even better, create an account anyway and use the signature method described. There really is no reason not to if you're going to stick around. Also, please try to keep discussions on just one talk page; don't move it to another talk page to reply.

Be bold, but know when not to be
We encourage you to be bold in making simple edits; if you see something that you think needs to be fixed, then fix it. Please note, however, that in being bold you should not contradict established consensus. Additionally, the reason we encourage boldness is because it's fairly simple to revert a page to a previous state. For larger projects, therefore, the amount of boldness you display in making a change should be directly proportional to the ease of reverting that change. In other words, if it would take us a long time to undo what you've done, then you should start a discussion to see what the community thinks first. In a similar vein, anything that goes against longstanding tradition or that would have a widespread effect on the wiki should be talked about before any action is taken.

Episodes
The basic format for Episode pages looks like this: (establishing format - stay tuned)


 * (see Template:epnav for more info).


 * Infobox in upper right corner summarizing the show's production info
 * Include episode name and number, season, release date, running time, and up to 1 image with a caption.
 * Short summary of the Episode's premise, followed by the cast listing.

Cast (in order of appearance or mention):, , etc.


 * Transcript (see below)


 * Fun Facts and Trivia


 * Categories

Screenshot
In most cases this should be a JPG or PNG image uploaded to the wiki via the Upload file page. It should be optimized for the web and its size should not exceed 100 kilobytes. Its dimensions should be approximately the same as the original image or screenshot and never exceeding 600 pixels in width. JPEG format is desirable for "live action" shots from episodes and photos, and PNG is preferred for logos, cartoon images, etc. GIF and BMP formats are never desirable. When uploading the file, be sure to give it a meaningful name which describes its content and more importantly, its use on the wiki. "red_setting_hat_on_fire.jpg" is meaningful. "red_hat_screenshot.jpg" is not.

The screenshot should be added as a thumbnail image. Use a caption which is fun and demonstrates the tone or plot of the episode. In many cases, the caption will be a quote from the episode; these should be put in quotes. However, when the caption is not a direct quote, do not use quotation marks. It is common, but by no means required, for the caption to match the scene the image is from. If using an image from earlier or later in the toon than where the caption was derived yields a better combination of image and caption for the article, that's what should be done.

Please note that articles on topics other than episodes normally have a thumbnail as well. The caption to these types of images may or may not be from the same episode the image is from, depending on the article; there's nothing wrong with having the caption and the image from two separate places if it works.

Summary
The Summary section generally contains an infobox to summarize the episode, along with a short synopsis of the episode's premise and the cast of characters. It is not necessary to describe the entire plot or give away the ending in the synopsis, nor is it necessary to describe segments unrelated to the main plot, such as Handyman Corner. The synopsis should only be one or two sentences long in most cases.

The cast list should take the following form: Cast (in order of appearance): , Character B, (mentioned)

Note that everything between (and including) "Cast" and the colon is between the bold markers, and each character's name is separated by a comma and a space. The characters should be listed in the order in which they appear in the episode. If an unseen character is mentioned, denote this as above with the word "mentioned" in parentheses, as unseen characters play a significant role in the show's plots. However, mentioning a regular character in passing ("We had another animal control officer, Garth Harble...") generally doesn't qualify for inclusion in the cast list if the character didn't appear in the episode, unless the mention is especially noteworthy.

It is preferable to link to the characters in the cast list but not in the synopsis, so as to keep the cast list consistent and so as to follow the Link Once rule.

A character with a filmography category should be linked to by the Film template. All major characters have this category. See Category:Filmography for a complete list of characters with filmography categories.

The date of release should be formatted with the month (spelled out), the day (numeric), a comma, and the year (four digits) – for example, "August 14, 2003".

Transcript
A transcript is a detailed account of an episode's dialogue and action. Its basic format is this: {A brief description of the scene.}

CHARACTER A: Something witty.

CHARACTER B: {singing} Something melodious.

{Cut to some other scene.}

As you can see, a line of dialogue begins with the character's name in upper case followed by a colon, all of which is bold. This is followed by a space and then what the character said. When different characters are speaking their dialogue should be separated by a blank line.

If a character does something while speaking a line of dialogue, or if more description is needed for their manner of speaking or inflection (e.g. if they're singing or whispering) the action (if it is not too long to describe in a few words) can be enclosed in curly braces — { } — and made italic, like this: {goes to the refrigerator}. Note that the curly braces themselves are also italic. Short actions like these do not need to be proper sentences.

If there is a scene change or major action (which takes more than a few words to describe), it should be separated from the dialogue by a blank line above and below, and in this case complete sentences and proper capitalization and punctuation are desirable.

Links in transcripts should be limited. There should never be links in dialogue. Links in annotations between curly braces are not prohibited, but should also be kept to a minimum.

Segment headers
Since each episode is intended for a half-hour segment on broadcast/cable television, transcripts of episodes can become quite lengthy. To make transcripts easier to read and to better catalog the general format of the show, episode transcripts should be broken up by scene. As a simple example:


 * ==Transcript==
 * ===Introduction===
 * ===Plot Segment 1===
 * ===The Possum Lodge Word Game===
 * ===Handyman Corner===
 * ===Red's Sage Advice===
 * ===Plot Segment 2===
 * ===Side Segment 1===
 * ===Plot Segment 3===
 * ===Adventures With Bill===

etc.

In some cases, named segments (like Adventures With Bill and Handyman Corner) are broken up into several segments in a single episode. These should be noted as such:


 * ===Adventures With Bill, Part 1===
 * ===Campfire Song 1===
 * ===Handyman Corner===
 * ===Adventures With Bill, Part 2===

etc.

Each individual scene should start with a brief description of the setting. If the setting has been described before in the same episode (for example, the second part of a Handyman Corner segment continues where the first left off), briefly remind the reader of the location, note any significant changes to the scene, then continue with the transcript. This can be treated much like a cut within the segment, indicating the passage of time.

Level of detail in actions and settings
In general, the settings in the episodes serve primarily as backgrounds for the show's dialogue and are not in and of themselves noteworthy. It is usually only necessary to note things that stand out, are unusual or new to a scene or setting, or with which a character interacts, but it is not necessary to point out objects that do not contribute significantly to the scene.

Bad example:


 * {Red Green walks in to the Lodge, which contains a stuffed bear, a large swordfish hanging over the door, a dartboard, a bearskin rug, a wood stove with steam coming out of it...}

Good example:


 * {Red Green walks in to the Lodge. To his right is a table with a computer sitting on it.}

Similarly, action scripts should be as brief as possible while still conveying what's going on in the scene. Many incidental actions (like a character turning to look at another character) can be ignored unless noteworthy. Simple actions relevant to the scene should be described in single, simple sentences and interspersed with the dialog. ({waves his arms wildly}) Complex and deliberate actions can be described in more detail, but should still be concise. ({Ed begins pulling the blanket off of the cage, then panics when the blanket gets caught in the cage's cover.})

Note also that it is usually unnecessary to document changes in camera angles, again unless there is something noteworthy about them. Takes from one camera to another just to focus on one character or a wide shot are very commonplace and don't change the scene's presentation. Unusual camera angles such as from the ground, and unusual actions, such as shaking excessively or moving quickly to point at the sky, are worth noting in action scripts. Cuts and wipes that indicate a change in the scene or the passage of time should be noted, though in many cases they can just be described as a series of consecutive actions. For example:


 * {Wipe to show Red trying to roll out the fence. Wipe again: Red now has the fence partially unrolled, but it is rolling up again behind him as he rolls out the front of it.  Wipe again: Red is now lying in the middle of the fence with his arms and legs spread, trying to flatten the fence.  He then curls up.  Wipe again to show the fence rolled up around him and rolling toward the camera.  Wipe again: Red now has the fence laid out flat on the ground.}

This could also be written as:


 * {Red tries to roll out the fence. He gets the fence partially unrolled, but it starts rolling itself up again behind him.  He then lies down in the middle with rolls on both ends, spreading his arms and legs to try to flatten it.  He curls up in the fence, which then rolls up around him, and he and the fence start rolling toward the camera.  Wipe to a later point where he now has the fence laid out flat on the ground.}

Point of view
Episode transcripts should be written from the point of view of the characters and the plot, rather than from a real-world point of view. For example, if the stage lights shut off to simulate a power outage, the appropriate action script would be {the power goes out} rather than {the stage lights go out}. (However, if the plot action is, in fact, to have a set of stage lights go out, then transcribe it as such.) Such actions will usually be fairly self-explanatory.

Rapid dialogue and interjections
Frequently, one character will be talking and another will interject short filler words ("yeah", "okay", etc.) during the first character's speech. This sort of exchange can result in an unnecessarily lengthy transcription that makes it difficult to convey the scene in text format. In general, the "filler words" don't need to be transcribed unless there's something significant about the exchange - otherwise, focus the transcript on the character whose speech is the focus of the scene.

As an example of what not to do:


 * RED GREEN: So, how's it going?


 * HAROLD GREEN: {angrily} Oh, it's going good! Oh yeah!  Oh yeah!


 * RED GREEN: {nodding} Yeah.


 * HAROLD GREEN: Idiot salespeople, stupid drivers–


 * RED GREEN: {nodding again} All right.


 * HAROLD GREEN: –Lodge members with an IQ of room temperature, maybe!


 * RED GREEN: Yeah.


 * HAROLD GREEN: Room temperature Celcius!


 * (etc.)

In the above example, Red's interjections are purely incidental and can be ignored, as they do not contribute significantly to the scene. Transcribe it as follows:


 * RED GREEN: So, how's it going?


 * HAROLD GREEN: {angrily} Oh, it's going good! Oh yeah!  Oh yeah!  {Red nods frequently during Harold's speech.} Idiot salespeople, stupid drivers, Lodge members with an IQ of room temperature, maybe!  Room temperature Celcius!

The Audience
Similarly, since the show is recorded in front of a live audience, dialogue and actions pause frequently to allow the audience to clap, cheer or laugh. These pauses generally should not be noted in the transcript unless there is something significant or unusual about them. For example:


 * RED GREEN: ...and no nudity!


 * AUDIENCE: Awwwwww!


 * HAROLD GREEN: Oh no, I've seen some of these guys. Lack of nudity is a good thing!

It is also appropriate to transcribe the audience when its reaction is particularly strong, even if the scene itself is otherwise normal. Example:


 * RED GREEN: Where'd you learn all this [financial] stuff?


 * HAROLD GREEN: I watch that show, Traders.


 * {The audience cheers wildly.}

(In the above example, special attention is given to Harold's comment because his actor, Patrick McKenna, starred in Traders. This is the sort of trivia item that would appear in the episode's Fun Facts section - see below.)

Adventures With Bill
Transcripts of Adventures With Bill segments present an interesting challenge, as the segment is always presented as a home movie being narrated by Red. Since there is no set rule as to how Red's voiceover matches up to the action on screen, transcribing the two together can be very difficult while still being legible and easily understood.

The segment includes many sound effects that are not generally noteworthy - a general note about them appears in the article about the segment itself. Again, there may occasional exceptions, but in general you want to keep the action flowing by avoiding unnecessary clutter.

It is suggested that you transcribe Adventures segments by using a two-column table that separates the on-screen actions from Red's voiceover. Each row of the table should describe a portion of the scene in a manner that makes it reasonably clear how the two elements sync up. The following example is taken from the episode "Harold's Leaving":

Fun Facts
A fun fact is anything about an episode that is unique or out of the ordinary. Some examples include:


 * Something that makes reference to a previous episode.
 * Something that makes reference to something in popular culture, e.g. a band, a movie, world history, etc.

It is difficult to define everything that a fun fact could be. A fun fact might appear in the form of a bit of dialogue, an object in the background, a character action, a graphic or a musical riff, etc.

What fun facts are not is obvious. If something is obvious to 95% of the audience (including first-time viewers), then it is not a fun fact. If a fun fact is questionably fun, or questionably factual, please bring it up on the talk page. Also, the fact must be relevant to the article in question; if the only connection to the article is extremely tenuous, or nonexistent, then the fact is likely to be discussed on the talk page and/or removed.

When posting fun facts, please refer to the General rules above, particularly the prohibition on conversational style, and place all fun facts with respect to their chronological relevance to the toon. For example, a Fun Fact about a pop-culture reference in the show's introduction should appear above a Fun Fact about the end of the show.

For most episodes, the facts should be split into multiple categories for readability. Please do not add a category if the facts are not already split, unless you split all of the facts. A category under Fun Facts should be surrounded by three equal signs on each side (for example, ===Trivia===). Fun Facts should be split into the following categories:

Explanations
If a plot element is very obscure (either something not obvious in general or something that would be unfamiliar to a certain group, like international viewers), an explanation might be necessary. In the vast majority of cases, however, you should not explain the joke. If you feel that a sizeable portion of the audience won't understand a joke, instead of explaining it directly, explain what the pieces of the joke are (or list the various pieces of the joke in one of the references sections below) and allow the reader to put them together. Note that generic references to concepts are usually listed as Explanations, whereas direct references should be listed in Inside or Real-World References.

Trivia
Facts in this category include trivia about the episode, such as the first time an event happens or verified details about the production of an episode. These are generally more "nitty-gritty" than the facts in the Remarks section. An example of this type of trivia would be a note of the only episode in which Harold signs off the show instead of Red.

Trivia facts can also include production notes, such as the show or a specific actor winning an award for their performance in that episode. (Examples: Patrick McKenna's reference to Traders mentioned above, or his winning a Gemini Award for his performance in Mad About You.)

Remarks
Can be viewed as the "miscellaneous" subcategory. This includes facts that are not direct references, not explanations, not mistakes, and don't really belong in Trivia, but are still notable enough to be added. These include non-obvious "did you notice?" plot details (that are not noted in the transcript) and general comments about the characters and locations in the episode. Some facts can fit under both Trivia and Remarks; it is up to the writer's preference where the fact is more appropriate. (But no fact should appear more than once.)

As an example, in Wind-Powered Boat, the following Remark would be appropriate:


 * At the end of Handyman Corner, Red is able to turn on the car's headlights even though he has removed the battery already.

Goofs
The Red Green Show is not perfect – sometimes they make mistakes. While much of the show's humor comes from intentional inconsistencies, plot holes and poor production values (usually as a form of satire), some genuine errors may appear in places. If you find such an error, it can go into the Goofs section. Please do not add anything to this section if it was clearly intentional as part of a joke – this especially applies to Ranger Gord's Educational Films: Assume that all "goofs" in these segments are intentionally mocking amateurish cartoon productions. If there is an oddity that is not a clear goof, consider adding it to the Remarks section.

As an example, in (need name of episode), the following would qualify as a goof:


 * When Ed Frid slams the cage shut on the weasel, it remains shut when he pulls his hand out. However, in the next shot, the cage is open again.

Inside References
An Inside Reference is when an episode makes a clear reference to a previous Red Green episode. Spoken and enacted references to events in previous episodes (example: Harold reading a fan letter that mentions Bill attempting to build a hang glider) and the return of non-regular characters count as Inside References. (Another example: Harold's return to Possum Lodge after being absent for two seasons can be noted in Inside References.)

Notes: Catch-phrases (such as Red's "Keep your stick on the ice") and frequent running jokes (such as Bill knocking a mirror off the Possum Van) generally don't count as Inside References. Running gags should only be notable in their own right - frequently repeated events will usually be tracked as Trivia.

Also, please only add the fact if you are CERTAIN that is a direct reference to exactly what you add. If there's any reasonable doubt, or it's a reference to "(this) and (this) and (this other thing) and (lots of other similar things)", or if it refers to something which is itself a reference to something else, please discuss it on the Talk page before adding it to the article.

Real-World References
This is when an episode makes a clear reference to something outside the Red Green universe that took place before the creation of the episode in question. Celebrities, commercial products, famous quotes and events, and so forth can be Real-World References. (See notes in Inside References.)

Some examples of Real-World References:


 * In Harold's Leaving: The exchange between Red and Harold in which Red says "I can't handle the truth!" is a reference to the movie A Few Good Men.
 * In Maple Syrup: Harold mimics the death of the Wicked Witch of the East in The Wizard of Oz, and Red's subsequent comment is a reference to the Scarecrow's song in the same film.
 * In Winter Festival: Harold's slow, exaggerated walking motions in the final scene are a reference to the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day as it becomes frozen in liquid nitrogen.

Fast Forward
A fact in the Fast Forward category is something of significance in the episode that is reused or revisited later on, either in a later episode or in the real world (for the latter, also see Sightings). Facts in this category should be phrased in the present tense.

An example of a Fast Forward fact:


 * (Need first episode) Red, Dalton and Mike play with slingshots again in almost exactly the same way in (need name of later episode).

Categories
The Epnav template takes care of adding an appropriate category to the episode page for the season in which the episode appears, and the Film template does the same thing for each character's filmography. However, if there are other categories that apply to the episode (like seasonal episodes, specials, etc.), you will need to add them manually at the bottom of the page. For example: [[:Category:Christmas episodes ]].